Boston Red Sox right fielder Mookie Betts left Sunday’s game with an apparent injury but is expected to be fine for the team’s next game.
One of the few things that could derail this Boston Red Sox team from their championship aspirations would be an injury to a star player. The last thing they wanted to see at this stage of the season was Mookie Betts exiting the game with an apparent injury.
Betts was pulled in the sixth inning of Sunday’s win against the New York Mets after making a throw to home plate on a sac fly by Wilmer Flores. It looked like the right fielder hurt his side making the throw, which immediately set off alarms in the Red Sox dugout.
While we try to avoid speculating in the heat of the moment, the memory of Betts missing 14 games earlier this season with an abdominal strain remains fresh in our minds. A similar injury could knock him out for the remainder of the regular season and potentially put his availability for the ALDS in jeopardy. A more severe issue, such as an oblique strain, could cost him several weeks.
Good news though. It appears the Red Sox dodged a bullet, as Betts claims he’s going to be fine. According to WEEI’s Rob Bradford, Betts told reporters after the game that he had been feeling a bit of soreness in his side for a couple days and it flared up on him when he made that throw to home plate.
"“Was able to get some stretching, get some work in,” said Betts. “Kind of flared back up on the second throw. Like I said it’ll be fine, and be ready to play Tuesday.” Betts later added, “You know I was just coming out of it for precautionary, just to make it didn’t get any worse. But it checked out to be just fine.”"
That certainly doesn’t sound like the words of a player who is worried about his availability moving forward.
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The Red Sox catch a break with Monday being an off day, allowing Betts an extra day to heal before beginning a three-game series against the New York Yankees in the Bronx. All it will take is one win against their rivals for the Red Sox to clinch the AL East division, which could happen as soon as tomorrow. You know this team is salivating over the chance to lock up the division title by beating the Yankees in their home park and Betts won’t want to miss that.
The plan is for Betts to ease into his return as the designated hitter on Tuesday, with J.D. Martinez likely taking his spot in right field. It’s unclear how long Betts will be relegated to DH duty but it shouldn’t be for long. This team needs the value Betts adds with his glove but giving him an extra day or two where he doesn’t need to unleash that cannon arm of his seems wise.
Boston has an 8.5 game lead over the Houston Astros in the race for home-field advantage throughout the postseason. With their playoff seeding nearly secured, expect the Red Sox to ease the workload on several of their players down the stretch. They need to ensure they get enough at-bats to keep their rhythm at the plate heading into the postseason but also want them to be well rested and protect against further injuries.
Betts appears to have avoided a potentially devastating late-season injury this time but we should expect the team to tread carefully with him and the other regulars in the lineup to make sure they make it to the postseason in one piece.